martlewis

It charged just over 2 hours in total. Bike is good as new again. Thanks to everyone for the help, and especially Akey for the charger. Have sent you a PPM mate.

Still got his charger so I'll give it a charge till it's time to go home then.

Do I need to charge new battery once I put the acid in it?

CMC clay cross £24.99, Halfrauds £49.99... But it's a Bosch battery, the man at halfrauds said, so that makes it ok

If it has to desulfate the battery then yes the battery was the problem... Sulfation destroys a battery's ability to hold charge. Desulfation is the curing factor here as it makes the battery more able to charge. Though a battery for your bike from Halfords is about £30 from memory. If you have a trade number all the better. Wish I did have a trade number. Would that make it cheaper?

OK so after 16 hours or so the charger started switching between charge and weak, it then went to desulfate for about 15 mins and now is charging again. Any suggestions if the battery is dead?

Quick update, battery is on charge on optimate3. Didn't switch to desulfate, don't know if that's a good or bad sign. Once it's charged I'll get it back on and check voltages etc. Thanks Mark for the loan of the charger.

Would be really appreciated if I can borrow it. I'm at physio tonight for my back after the accident so won't be available till after 7. At least I could get my battery on and try charging, should prove if it's the battery before I buy another. I can send my driver out from work tomorrow to pick up a battery if the charge fails.

Guess it's a trip to the nearest shop for a battery then. Let's hope they come ready charged.

Someone crashed into the back of me on 24th May, was taken away by insurers next day. Yesterday was first time I've used it since. Has an alarm fitted which I'm guessing drains battery too even if not turned on. I'm pretty sure the insurers wouldn't care enough to have disconnected the battery while they had it.

Will a standard car battery charger work on a bike battery or is there a difference? I have a halfords charger that I got for the car some years ago.

It's only just over 2 years old. Didn't expect battery to fail so quickly.

Unfortunately not. Will have to try and borrow work van tonight if I can and then bring a meter tomorrow. How do I test reg/rec?

And I'm at work 8 till 4... Hopefully the fuel change will do the trick. I was concerned over battery as I managed to ride all the way to work but when I got here the battery was still flat, headlight wouldn't even turn on when ignition was switched on.

I'm at work mate so a plug socket isn't going to be a problem. My bike's in our warehouse at moment. The battery is completely flat and just wanna charge it and rule out a duff battery before I go any further. I'll also get the fuel drained and replaced.